Mexico baseball sends off seniors with postseason-award worthy seasons

By Jeremy Jacob, Sports Editor

Posted 7/12/23

The core of Mexico’s team this season was definitely its six seniors.

Some of those players earned postseason awards for their efforts during the season and in the district tournament the …

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Mexico baseball sends off seniors with postseason-award worthy seasons

Mexico's Andrew Runge affected the game wherever he positioned on the field, whether at shortstop, at the plate and on the mound to be an all-conference and all-district player in his senior year.

Jeremy Jacob Photo

Mexico's Tyler Thoenen was an all-conference player in his senior season for being a consistent presence in the middle of the order.

Jeremy Jacob Photo

Mexico's Landyn Kleinsorge was named to the all district team in his senior year, providing good defense in the infield and solid work on the mound.

Jeremy Jacob Photo

Mexico's Sam Ryan was named to the all-district team, patrolling the infield and recording outs on the mound.

Jeremy Jacob Photo

Posted Wednesday, July 12, 2023 5:00 am

By Jeremy Jacob, Sports Editor

The core of Mexico’s team this season was definitely its six seniors.

Some of those players earned postseason awards for their efforts during the season and in the district tournament the Bulldogs were a few outs away from winning. Andrew Runge and Tyler Thoenen were named all-North Central Missouri Conference in their final seasons while Runge, senior Landyn Kleinsorge and sophomore Sam Ryan were named to the Class 4 District 7 team.

Runge also etched his name in the school record books on top of doubling up on postseason awards as he finished his career with 49 stolen bases, beating the previous record of 46. He also finished with a .305 batting average, a .422 on-base percentage and a team-high 21 RBI during the season and had a .500 average, .583 on-base, five hits, three RBI and a home run during Mexico’s three games in the district tournament, which snapped a season-high 10-game losing streak with victories of 11-1 against Moberly and 6-1 against state-ranked Hallsville.

Thoenen was a stable presence in the middle of Mexico order, hitting for a .424 average, recording a .410 on-base percentage and finished with 13 RBI.

Kleinsorge was a reliable pitcher during the district tournament as he posted two starts that lasted five innings, including a tough-luck 2-1 losing effort against Macon. The Tigers scored the winning two runs in the sixth inning, but Kleinsorge had already recorded a win and one earned run in 10 innings pitched along with a .364 average during districts and had 11 RBI during the season.

Ryan gave away hardly anything against Hallsville as he allowed one earned run on three hits in 6 ⅔ innings and showed promise at the plate with eight RBI during the season. He is one piece head coach Daniel McCarty is happy to have return to the mound and lineup next season.

“We lost six strong seniors this year that carried the workload this season,” McCarty said. “We will be younger next year but will have several kids that can step right in. These kids have been working hard since they became freshmen. We are returning several starters from the mound next year.”